A GENERAL NOTICE OF THE BIOLOGICAL 



MEMOIRS. 



THE completion of these fifty memoirs, descriptive of the fauna and flora of that 

 part of the Antarctic area which was visited by the ' Discovery,' under the command 

 of Captain Scott, K.N., C.V.O., offers a suitable opportunity for saying a few words 

 on the collections that were obtained, and for suggesting some general reflections 

 on the inhabitants of the area that was studied. 



First of all we have to note the extraordinary differences between the North 

 and the South Polar regions ; in the one there is the polar sea, in the other 

 solid land. In the one case, the surfaces of its solid places are dominated by 

 rapacious Carnivores which, ever hungry in such climes, have compelled all 

 defenceless animals to assume the same colour as themselves and the snow on 

 which they live. In the other, the absence of aggressors allows the Penguins 

 to assume the splendid and beautiful colourations which are so well shown in 

 Dr. Wilson's admirable drawings. 



The Antarctic region, instead of being, as we might imagine, with its 

 inhospitable climate, almost devoid of life, teems with species, of which 227 new 

 forms are described in these volumes. Of some Amphipoda Mr. Hodgson writes 

 "It was quite the usual thing to take 10,000 to 30,000 at a haul." And 

 the collection of the ' Discovery ' Schizopoda contained one species which was 

 represented by nearly 10,000 specimens. Students of Professor Ehlers' report 

 on the Polychseta will have only a faint idea of the number of specimens of 

 Harmothoe spinosa brought back by the Expedition. 



The Alga Lessonia grandiflora was found to have a lamina as much as 

 24 feet long ; on the other hand, M. Cardot noted that most of the species of 

 Mosses showed signs, which he has detailed, of the severity of their struggle for 

 existence. With; the exception of some Algae, no freshwater organisms were 

 obtained by the ' Discovery ' Expedition. 



